Shanghai 3 by Francisco Angulo de Lafuente

Author:Francisco Angulo de Lafuente
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cyber, Europe, Jupiter, Moon, colony, mining, corporation, cloning, AI, artificial intelligence, 2076, future
Publisher: ASTRA-NOVA
Published: 2024-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15: Echoes in the Neon Labyrinth

Shanghai 3's Chinatown was a labyrinth of shadows and neon, a microcosm of desperation and technology where dreams went to die and secrets were sold to the highest bidder. Harrison, with his forty-five years carved by time and adversity, moved through its alleyways like a ghost, his silhouette cutting against the sickly glow of holographic advertisements promising artificial paradises and synthetic oblivion.

The metallic cold of the air chilled him to the bone, a constant reminder of the relentless nature of Europa, the moon of Jupiter he now called home. Each breath was a struggle, the air laden with ice particles and pollutants that not even the most advanced filters could completely eliminate. But Harrison was used to it; in Shanghai 3, suffering was the only constant.

His cybernetic arm hummed softly beneath his worn jacket, a mechanical chorus that blended with his quickening heartbeat. Each step took him deeper into the belly of the beast, toward a destiny he feared but couldn't avoid.

Sam's place stood before him like a dark promise, a sanctuary of forbidden technology hidden behind a facade of calculated decay. The sign, covered in dust and neglect, was barely distinguishable in Chinatown's perpetual gloom. Harrison paused before the door, his human hand trembling slightly as he prepared to cross a threshold from which there might be no return.

The interior was an organized chaos of cables and holographic screens, the air charged with ozone and the constant murmur of data flowing like a digital river. Sam, Chinatown's legendary hacker, was hunched over a console, his small, twisted body almost completely covered in cybernetic implants and prostheses.

"You need to erase something," Harrison said, his voice low and tense, heavy with secrets that threatened to crush him. "A video that... can't be seen by anyone else."

Sam looked up, his artificial eyes scanning Harrison with an intensity that made him feel naked and exposed. The hacker made an almost imperceptible gesture, inviting Harrison to sit in a dilapidated chair that looked more like an instrument of torture than furniture.

"Show me," Sam growled, his voice a metallic whisper that spoke of years of neural stimulant abuse and vocal modifications.

Harrison removed his jacket with an abrupt movement, revealing the cybernetic arm that was both his salvation and his curse. The bluish light from the screens reflected off the polished metal surface, creating hypnotic patterns that seemed to dance to the rhythm of invisible data flowing through the air.

Sam connected several cables to Harrison's arm port, his fingers moving with inhuman precision. The hum of data transfer filled the room, a sound that crept under Harrison's skin like a thousand microscopic insects.

"This shouldn't take long..." Sam muttered, his attention already completely absorbed by the cascades of code flooding the screens around him.

Harrison leaned back in the chair, trying to control his breathing as anxiety threatened to devour him from within. The video, that damned video showing Rachel's distorted face and the Liberators' logo, was a time bomb that could destroy everything he had fought for in Shanghai 3.

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